Call center services for local calls using local number portability
First Claim
1. A call servicing system comprising:
- a plurality of agent switches configured to direct calls to and from service agents;
a database configured to store forwarding information corresponding to local telephone numbers dialed by customers;
a plurality of customer switches configured to direct calls to and from the customers, at least one of the customer switches being connected to the database and includingmeans for receiving a call requesting service from one of the customers dialing a local telephone number,means for querying the database using the local telephone number to retrieve the forwarding information corresponding to the local telephone number, andmeans for routing the call along with the local telephone number and the forwarding information; and
a network call center, connected to the agent switches and the customer switches, configured to receive the call routed using the forwarding information, to queue the call, and to transmit the call to one of the service agents via one of the agent switches.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A call servicing system permits agents to service customer calls dialed with a local telephone number. The system includes a network call center that connects a plurality of agent switches to a plurality of customer switches. The agent switches direct calls to and from service agents, and the customer switches direct calls to and from customers. The system further includes a database connected to at least one of the customer switches. The database stores forwarding information corresponding to local telephone numbers dialed by the customers. When a customer switch receives a call requesting service from one of the customers dialing a local telephone number, the switch queries the database, using the local telephone number, to retrieve forwarding information corresponding to the local telephone number, and routes the call to the network call center using the forwarding information. The network call center queues the call, and transmits it to one of the service agents via one of the agent switches.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A call servicing system comprising:
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a plurality of agent switches configured to direct calls to and from service agents; a database configured to store forwarding information corresponding to local telephone numbers dialed by customers; a plurality of customer switches configured to direct calls to and from the customers, at least one of the customer switches being connected to the database and including means for receiving a call requesting service from one of the customers dialing a local telephone number, means for querying the database using the local telephone number to retrieve the forwarding information corresponding to the local telephone number, and means for routing the call along with the local telephone number and the forwarding information; and a network call center, connected to the agent switches and the customer switches, configured to receive the call routed using the forwarding information, to queue the call, and to transmit the call to one of the service agents via one of the agent switches. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for servicing customer calls in a communications network including a network call center coupled to a plurality of agent and customer switches, at least one of the customer switches being connected to a database that stores forwarding information corresponding to local telephone numbers dialed by customers, the method comprising the steps of:
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receiving a customer call at the one customer switch from a customer dialing a local telephone number; accessing the database using the local telephone number to retrieve the forwarding information corresponding to the local telephone number; routing the customer call to the network call center along with the local telephone number and the forwarding information; queuing the customer call at the network call center; and transmitting the customer call to one of the service agents via one of the agent switches. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. In a communications network having a network call center coupled to a plurality of agent and customer switching means, each of the customer switching means comprising:
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means for storing forwarding information corresponding to local telephone numbers dialed by customers; means for receiving calls, requesting service by service agents, from customers dialing local telephone numbers; means for retrieving the forwarding information corresponding to the local telephone numbers from the storing means; and means for routing the calls, along with the local telephone numbers and the forwarding information, to the network call center where the calls are queued and transmitted to available ones of the service agents via the agent switching means. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method for routing service calls to service agents via a network call center coupled to customer and agent switching means, comprising the steps, executed by the customer switching means, of:
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preliminarily storing in a storage unit forwarding information corresponding to local telephone numbers dialed by customers; receiving the service calls, requesting service by the service agents, from customers dialing local telephone numbers; retrieving the forwarding information corresponding to the local telephone numbers from the storage unit; and routing the calls, along with the local telephone numbers and the forwarding information, to the network call center where the calls are queued and transmitted to available ones of the service agents via the agent switching means. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28)
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29. A call servicing system comprising:
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a plurality of agent switches configured to direct calls to and from service agents; a database configured to store forwarding information corresponding to telephone numbers dialed by customers; a plurality of customer switches configured to direct calls to and from the customers, at least one of the customer switches being connected to the database and including means for receiving a call requesting service from one of the customers dialing a telephone number, means for querying the database using the dialed telephone number to retrieve the forwarding information corresponding to the dialed telephone number, and means for routing the call along with the local telephone number and the forwarding information; and a network call center connected to the agent switches and the customer switches, and configured to route calls to the service agents via the agent switches, the network call center including a network switch connected to the customer switches and the agent switches, and configured to receive the call from the one customer switch and to route the call to a selected service agent via one of the agent switches, and an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) server connected to the network switch and the agent switches, and configured to queue the call received by the network switch, to select one of the service agents who can service the call, and to control the network switch to route the call to the selected service agent via the one agent switch.
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Specification